Chicago, Ill. – Arizona junior defensive end Ricky Elmore has been added to the final mid-season watch list for the 2009 Ted Hendricks Award, the Ted Hendricks Foundation announced on Wednesday.

Now in its eighth season, the Ted Hendricks Award is named in honor of college football’s first three-time first-team All-American. On-field performance, exceptional winning attitude, leadership abilities, contributions to school and community and academic preparedness are some of the criteria used to determine the Award’s winner. Members of the national media, head coaches, professional scouts and former winners are included in the Award’s voting committee. Candidates may represent any class (Freshman through Senior) as well as any four-year NCAA accredited school. The candidate’s primary position must be defensive end.

Elmore, the Pac-10 leader with 8.5 sacks, is one of 10 players added to the initial list of 26. The list will be trimmed to five or six candidates in the final weeks of the season, with final voting concluding on December 7. The winner will be announced on December 9.

The Wildcats have relied on Elmore’s breakout junior season to add stability to the defensive front four. UA’s top returning sack leader from a season ago, Brooks Reed, missed significant playing time earlier this season due to an ankle injury. In his absence, Elmore filled the pass rush void, vaulting to the top of the conference in sacks.

Elmore, a native of Simi Valley, Calif., has recorded career-highs in tackles (34), tackles for loss (8.5) and sacks (8.5) through the first nine games of the year. His season sack total is the most for any Wildcat player since the 1999 season when Joe Tafoya tallied 10 in 1999. Elmore has 12.5 total sacks in his career.

To date, the Wildcats have recorded 26 sacks on the season, one shy of matching the 2007 team, which had 27 – a high under Mike Stoops. Should Arizona reach 30 sacks on the season, it would mark the first time since the 2001 season (36) that an Arizona defense notched 30 sacks. Previously, during a 10-year span from 1992-2001, Arizona recorded at least 30 sacks in every season, including a school-record 59 in 1993.

Arizona hosts its final home game this Saturday against No. 11 Oregon. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Arizona Stadium with a live split-national TV broadcast on ABC.